Doctor testifies accused Weymouth murderer Rudolph unfit for trial

Dr. Charles Carroll, a forensic psychologist and Bridgewater State's director of forensic services, said at a court hearing Friday that he first thought Donald Rudolph could be faking symptoms of mental illness, but now believes Rudolph has schizophrenia and is not competent to stand trial.

Less than a month after a Weymouth man was charged with bludgeoning his mother to death, he wrote her two letters asking about her health, his lawyer said Friday.

Donald Rudolph, 21, who is also charged with murdering his sister and another man, often speaks to his doctors at Bridgewater State Hospital incoherently or not at all.

He keeps a journal that is indecipherable, and he complains of hearing people yelling, gunshots and lawnmowers when there are none around.

Dr. Charles Carroll, a forensic psychologist and the hospital's director of forensic services, said at a court hearing Friday that he first thought Rudolph could be faking those symptoms of mental illness, but now believes Rudolph has schizophrenia and is not competent to stand trial.

"It's too consistent for this to be feigning or malingering," Carroll said. "He requires close monitoring, support and treatment at Bridgewater State Hospital."

Malingering refers to faking or exaggerating symptoms of an illness.

Rudolph is charged with murdering his mother Paula Rudolph, 50; his sister, Caylin Rudolph, 24; and his mother's boyfriend, Frederick Medina, 52, in their Upland Road home in November 2011.

All three were bludgeoned, and Medina and Caylin Rudolph were also stabbed.

Carroll, who performed court-ordered evaluations of Donald Rudolph in 2011 and 2013, testified for more than three hours in Norfolk Superior Court during a hearing that's part of the process for a judge to determine whether Rudolph should stand trial or be committed to the hospital.

At issue is whether Rudolph is able to understand the charges against him and make decisions to assist his attorney in defending him.

Carroll faced tough questions from Assistant District Attorney Craig Kowalski, who appeared to be building a case that Rudolph is faking his symptoms and that he should face trial on the three murder counts.

Kowalski said that when officers found Rudolph covered in blood outside the home on the night of the murders, he told them, "I'm (expletive). You'll see when you go inside."

He also said Rudolph asked for a lawyer when police interviewed him later at the station.

"Does that not demonstrate to you that he knew exactly what he was going to be charged with?" Kowalski asked Carroll. "Has he just forgotten it two years later?"

Kowalski noted that Rudolph was a good student at South Shore Educational Collaborative, had a history of problems with authority and that when doctors at Bridgewater State Hospital completed their first evaluation in 2011, they didn't diagnose him with any mental illness.

Carroll said Rudolph's illness likely progressed over time.

During the hearing, Rudolph gazed around the room, often looking at the ceiling or the table in front of him.

Several times he appeared to be silently mouthing words.

Page 2 of 2 - Carroll said he displays similar behavior at the hospital, often while pacing the hallways.

The competency hearing will resume on Jan. 31.

Kowalski is expected to call to testify Dr. Martin Kelly, a Brookline psychiatrist who was retained by prosecutors to provide a second opinion of Rudolph's competency.

Friday's hearing offered a glimpse into Rudolph's multiple psychological evaluations and details of his life that are not part of the public court record.

Rudolph wrote two letters to his mother in November 2011, his attorney John Darrell said.

In the letters, Rudolph asked her how she was feeling and how her health was.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Rudolph was 12.

Carroll said Rudolph was admitted to psychiatric hospitals five times when he was between the ages of 11 and 14.